It’s Showtime!

Surela

Between the spots, stunts, and shticks, it’s hard to imagine that the performers behind the shows are real people. Jr. — this is a one-time opportunity! Let’s yank aside those curtains and go backstage with some of our favorite performers.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

The Chinese Twist

Your heart will probably be in your mouth (that means you’ll be kinda nervous!) while you watch Yang Xiaowei’s Chinese circus. It’s a heart-stopping combination of tricks and acrobats — a culmination of 60 years of practice. Yang says that learning these acrobatics wasn’t at all easy; sometimes, it was heart-stopping for him too!

Yang calls his show the “Happy Chef,” and masterfully balances wine bottles, juggles apples and knives, throws Chinese boomerangs, and demonstrates Chinese martial arts. When he was younger, he used to do more headstands and handstands. But after 60 years of performing, he sticks mainly to juggling, balancing, and spinning. His favorite trick is when he holds a stick in his mouth, balances a bottle on the stick, and spins round and round. What a dizzying delight!

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